Black Widow’s ex-lawyer says she wanted to control, not kill husbands

Melissa Ann Shepard arrives at Supreme Court in Sydney, N.S., for her sentencing hearing on Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (CP)

Melissa Ann Shepard will be in Dartmouth provincial court on Tuesday to go over the restrictions to be put in place on her release, and her former lawyer Allan Nicholson says she’s served enough time.

“I’ve seen people convicted of second-degree murder who have served as long as she has for this sentence,” he said.

Shepard, dubbed the Internet Black Widow, is just about to finish her sentence, imposed in 2013, for administering a noxious substance and not providing the necessities of life for new husband Fred Weeks during their 2012 Cape Breton honeymoon.

Shepard poisoned one husband and killed another, so the Crown is making an application for a protective peace bond under 810.2 of the Criminal Code, allowing for monitoring of her when she’s released. She would also have a curfew, a ban from obtaining certain drugs and a requirement to report relationships with any men.

“Generally, those sorts of things are left to the parole board. But it doesn’t surprise me the Crown wants them,” he said.

“I never really thought she was trying to kill anyone. If you look at her past, she really wanted to influence them, and have them change their insurance and wills.”

He said there’s no question she gave Weeks medication, but says nothing was in place for her to catch a windfall if he died.

“She’d be left with nothing, and I assume she wanted to have access to his funds. The evidence is that’s what she wanted to do. She was a charming woman.”

Despite a plea for early release, she was ordered to serve her full sentence of 33 months and 10 days in the Nova Scotia Institution for Women in Truro due to her history of drugging and stealing from men. Her actions left one of them dead.

She previously served two years out of a six-year sentence for manslaughter, when husband Gordon Stewart was run over twice in April 1991 by Shepard. She had given him benzodiazepine before running over him.

Her third husband, Robert Friedrich, met her at a Christian conference, and he died of cardiac arrest after his health took a turn for the worse. She wasn’t charged, and the family has stated publicly she emptied his bank accounts.

In 2005, she was given five years in Florida state prison for stealing $20,000 from Alexander Strategos, a man she met on the Internet and for whom she moved to work as a caretaker.

Chris Hansen, spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service, said the restrictions being sought in the Shepard case are warranted.

“When there is a fear or apprehension a crime is likely to be recommitted, extraordinary measures are taken to protect public,” she said.

“The Crown is suggesting these things under document 810.2 and tomorrow she is expected to sign.”